Reader’s guide · Washington, D.C.
Watergate: what United States v. Nixon decided
A guide to the 1974 Nixon subpoena decision, separating executive privilege, private judicial review and the broader Watergate prosecutions.
- Record
- United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683
- Issued by
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Date
- July 24, 1974
- Document
- Court opinion
Reading the record
United States v. Nixon arose from a subpoena seeking recordings for a criminal proceeding. The Supreme Court rejected the claim that a general assertion of executive privilege supplied an absolute basis for withholding the requested material.
The decision required production for in camera review — examination by the judge outside public view — under the procedure described in the opinion. That is different from an order automatically making every recording public.
The Court was resolving a dispute about evidence and privilege. It did not conduct a trial of Nixon or decide whether he committed the Watergate burglary. Read the opinion’s procedural account and conclusion before treating it as a judgment on the whole scandal.
Questions to take to the source
- What evidence did the subpoena seek, and in which proceeding?
- What distinction does the opinion draw between confidentiality and an absolute privilege?
- Why does in camera review differ from unrestricted public release?
Follow the evidence
Open the source record
These links open the cited documents on their hosts. No account or email is needed to read this guide.
- United States v. Nixon — official U.S. Reports PDF
Official opinion scan hosted by the Library of Congress.
Companion reading for True Crime Washington, D.C.: The District Files. This guide addresses the dated records above; later proceedings may have their own decisions.